We should hear today whether St. John’s and the province have made any headway regarding the tent city near Bannerman Park.
Officials were set to meet late yesterday to hash out short-term issues such as portable toilets, and longer-term ones such as actual housing before winter really sets in.
While Minister John Abbott and Mayor Danny Breen say they agree on the “working together” part, yesterday’s back-and-forth over port-a-potties went nowhere.
Breen says staff want no part of cleaning and fixing the public park bathrooms due to recent damage and defecation, so they were closed.
Abbott urged the city to reopen them, refusing to entertain the idea of port-a-potties on Colonial Building property, where the tent city lies.
Breen was asked whether finger-pointing and jurisdiction is getting in the way.
“Oh I don’t think it’s a finger-pointing thing at all. I think the province has done some good work in getting people in housing, (and) I think there’s more work to be done,” he said. “We’re willing to sit down, work with the government, do what we need to do to try to get this situation resolved, but it is in the province’s jurisdiction.”
Meantime, Breen was asked for his own thoughts as mayor of a city, with a tent city.
“It’s tough, it’s tough watching it,” said an emotional Breen. “People are suffering and we’re all trying to do our best. I think what we need is everybody to work together to try to help people out. We’re better than this. We can do this.”
Breen says he planned to visit the encampment for the first time yesterday but said other issues prevented him from doing so.
Meanwhile, PC leader Tony Wakeham and NDP leader Jim Dinn both agree that the province should be helping to provide access to bathroom services for people living in tents near Colonial Building.
The city of St. John’s announced yesterday that the Bannerman Park bathrooms will be closed until further notice due to vandalism and misuse.
Area MHA John Abbott says the province will not be putting port-a-potties on the provincial government-owned land at Colonial Building as a solution, opting instead to focus on the longer-term solutions.
That response has caught the ire of Wakeham and Dinn.
Wakeham asserts that they are camped out on government property and therefore it is a government responsibility, noting that Abbott’s response is “not good enough.” Dinn, meanwhile, says for government to “wash their hands” of the situation is “reprehensible.”
A St. John’s City Councillor says issues arising out of Bannerman Park are part of a bigger issue that ultimately falls on government’s plate.
Ophelia Ravencroft understands that poor conditions and vandalism have created unsafe working conditions for city staff, but ultimately voted against closing the washrooms in Bannerman Park.
She believes the city’s goal would be to have the washrooms open to those at the nearby tent encampment if it were safe to do so.
Who would be responsible for providing port-a-potties has been tossed back and forth between the province and the City of St. John’s, but Ravencroft says the root cause of the problem leads back to government.
She believes the provincial government has not done enough to find accommodations for those struggling to find housing. She says the real solution would be for NL Housing to provide safe and affordable shelter for those in need. Until that solution is brought forward, Ravencroft believes they may continue to see more issues in the future.
If the province isn’t going to provide housing, Ravencroft says they should at least provide a washroom option for those living in tent city.
“I think it’s fair to say the onus should be on them to provide facilities right now,” says Ravencroft. “If you’re not going to deliver housing for them, the least you can do is make sure they have somewhere to go to the bathroom.”
